From 1998 to 2000, five rapes were reported to the University of Utah Police Department, according to its 2000 Campus Safety Brochure, a figure which Chief Ben Lemmon said is “extremely low” when compared to other campuses in the United States.
The most recently reported rape at the U happened last week.
Associate Dean of Students Annie Nebeker, who works with U rape victims, believes there are more, both on and off campus.
“Students are learning more about the world, and sometimes it’s a very dangerous place,” she said.
A December 2000 National Institute of Justice study, “The Sexual Victimization of College Women,” reported about one in 36 college women experience an attempted or completed rape over a seven month reference period. Since pursuing an undergraduate degree takes an average of five years, the amount of rape or attempts might be as high as one-fifth or one-quarter of college women.
The close proximity of men and women living together is one reason Nebeker cited for incidents of rape on campus. The study concluded about nine out of 10 offenders were known to the victim. In the rape reported last week, the student knew the alleged perpetrator and was sleeping with him in her dorm room bed.
The idea of “stranger danger” rape?that someone’s hiding behind the bushes?is a misconception, Nebeker said.
All of the rapes Stayner Landward has learned about in his five years as dean of students have been acquaintance rape, and all the victims unintentionally put themselves at risk.
Experimentation with alcohol and drugs is another reason college campuses can become breeding grounds for rape, Nebeker continued. All but one of the rapes she’s dealt with involved intoxication.
“Some students, because they’re so inexperienced with alcohol, don’t expect to get drunk with so few drinks,” Landward said. Alcohol combined with curiosity, testosterone and diminished inhibition lead to sex and sex crimes.
Landward has spoken with six greek houses this year about sexual assault, but the Office of Residential Living covers the dorms. Residential living officers were away at a retreat Monday and could not be contacted. Neither Landward nor Nebeker think segregating dorms by sex would change the number of rapes.
Holding seminars about rape won’t introduce any new information to students, Landward said; the important way to avoid victimization is “making decisions ahead of time.”
“Midnight is the worst time to be making decisions,” Landward said.
To protect themselves, Landward encourages students to go to parties with friends and come home with the same people, make decisions about alcohol ahead of time and not drink before going to a party.
Even if they don’t press charges, the U encourages students to come forward when they have been raped for counseling. Nebeker said the sooner a victim receives counseling after an attack the better.
Landward believes perpetrators too decide to rape late at night, when alcohol has clouded judgment, and make a decision they wouldn’t during the day, a decision which could send them to jail.